The Ashes is just less than two weeks away and the excitement is building up already for the opening Test at the Gabba which begins on 23 November.
For England, it will not be an easy task for defending the urn as many teams have found it tough to beat the Aussies at their home. It would need plenty of hard work and sustained brilliance from Joe Root’s team if they have to get the better of the Aussies.
Mentally and physically, a tour down under can drain out even the best of players. There is hostility from every Australian, from the local press and even the spectators who are not shy of having a go at foreign players.
Former England wicket keeper Geraint Jones, who has been part of a historic Ashes winning team knows exactly how to deal with all from his previous experience.
In a recent interview with Betway Insider, Geraint Jones described how an Ashes tour Down Under can be harrowing experience. One incident comes to mind, where even an otherwise aggressive opener Marcus Trescothick had to take a flight back to England after being mentally distressed even before a ball was bowled.
Geraint Jones has been quoted by the betting site to have said: “You get the feeling the whole country is against you. You know it from the minute you get there.
“If you get a cricket fan at passport control, then there’s a good chance you’ll have a comment made to you.”
When it comes to batting down under, there will be enough number of short pitch deliveries to intimidate the batsmen for sure. The current English team will thank their stars that they do not have to face a deadly bowler like Mitchell Johnson any more.
Talking about how to handle the short-pitch stuff, Geraint Jones says that the Aussie bowlers will test the English players on their backfoot. He suggests that the batsmen need to be wary when playing their drives and need to ensure that the ball is right under the head.
Geraint Jones also has a piece of advice for the English batsmen on how to deal with the constant sledging from the bowlers and the close-in fielders. He says that the English players have to prove the Aussies wrong through their performance and show them that they deserve their spot in the middle.
The Joe Root team has already one star performer in Ben Stokes who could have so easily replicated what Andrew Flintoff had done in the past. Joe Root carries a team which has four uncapped players and a lot of them who have been in and out of the side. But will the Ashes bring the best out of them? This will have to be seen!
All the Englishmen need is at least one batsmen to come good by scoring heavily throughout the series and that should really help the rest of the players in the squad to feel confident of doing their bit well to put up solid resistance against the Aussies.